Data, Volume 6, Issue 10 (October 2021) – 8 articles

Integrating the representation of the territory, through airborne remote sensing activities with hyperspectral and visible sensors, and managing complex data through dimensionality reduction for the identification of cannabis plantations, in Albania, is the focus of the research proposed by the multidisciplinary group of the Benecon University Consortium. In this study, principal components analysis (PCA) was used to remove redundant spectral information from multiband datasets. This makes it easier to identify the most prevalent spectral characteristics in most bands and those that are specific to only a few bands. The survey and airborne monitoring by hyperspectral sensors is carried out with an Itres CASI 1500 sensor owned by Benecon, characterized by a spectral range of 380–1050 nm and 288 configurable channels. The spectral configuration adopted for the research was developed specifically to maximize the spectral separability of cannabis. The ground resolution of the georeferenced cartographic data varies according to the flight planning, inserted in the aerial platform of an Italian Guardia di Finanza’s aircraft, in relation to the orography of the sites under investigation. The geodatabase, wherein the processing of hyperspectral and visible images converge, contains ancillary data such as digital aeronautical maps, digital terrain models, color orthophoto, topographic data and in any case a significant amount of data so that they can be processed synergistically. The goal is to create maps and predictive scenarios, through the application of the spectral angle mapper algorithm, of the cannabis plantations scattered throughout the area. The protocol consists of comparing the spectral data acquired with the CASI1500 airborne sensor and the spectral signature of the cannabis leaves that have been acquired in the laboratory with ASD Fieldspec PRO FR spectrometers. These scientific studies have demonstrated how it is possible to achieve ex ante control of the evolution of the phenomenon itself for monitoring the cultivation of cannabis plantations. Full article

Most of the world’s mountain glaciers have been retreating for more than a century in response to climate change. Glacier retreat is evident on all continents, and the rate of retreat has accelerated during recent decades. Accurate, spatially explicit information on the position of glacier margins over time is useful for analyzing patterns of glacier retreat and measuring reductions in glacier surface area. This information is also essential for evaluating how mountain ecosystems are evolving due to climate warming and the attendant glacier retreat. Here, we present a non-comprehensive spatially explicit dataset showing multiple positions of glacier fronts since the Little Ice Age (LIA) maxima, including many data from the pre-satellite era. The dataset is based on multiple historical archival records including topographical maps; repeated photographs, paintings, and aerial or satellite images with a supplement of geochronology; and own field data. We provide ESRI shapefiles showing 728 past positions of 94 glacier fronts from all continents, except Antarctica, covering the period between the Little Ice Age maxima and the present. On average, the time series span the past 190 years. From 2 to 46 past positions per glacier are depicted (on average: 7.8). Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a multi-faceted global crisis, which triggered the diverse and quickly emerging use of old and new digital tools. We have developed a multi-channel approach for the monitoring and analysis of a subset of such tools, the COVID-19 related mobile applications (apps). Our approach builds on the information available in the two most prominent app stores (i.e., Google Play for Android-powered devices and Apple’s App Store for iOS-powered devices), as well as on relevant tweets and digital media outlets. The dataset presented here is one of the outcomes of this approach, uses the content of the app stores and enriches it, providing aggregated information about 837 mobile apps published across the world to fight the COVID-19 crisis. This information includes: (a) information available in the mobile app stores between 20 April 2020 and 2 August 2020; (b) complementary information obtained from manual analysis performed until mid-September 2020; and (c) status information about app availability on 28 February 2021, when we last collected data from the mobile app stores. We highlight our findings with a series of descriptives, which depict both the activities in the app stores and the qualitative information that was revealed by the manual analysis. Full article

Floating structures have a wide range of application and shapes. This experimental investigations observes a hexagonal floating structure under wave conditions for three different draft configurations. Regular waves as well as a range of white noise tests were conducted to quantify the response amplitude operator (RAO). Further irregular waves focused on the survivability of the floating structure. The presented dataset includes wave gauge data as well as a six degree of freedom motion measurement to quantify the response only restricted by a soft mooring system. Additional analysis include the measurement of the mass properties of the individual configuration, natural frequency of the mooring system as well as the comparison between requested and measured wave heights. This allows us to use the provided dataset as a validation experiment. Full article

We present a unique, comprehensive dataset that provides the pattern of five activities walking, cycling, taking a train, a bus, or a taxi. The measurements are carried out by embedded sensor accelerometers in smartphones. The dataset offers dynamic responses of subjects carrying smartphones in varied styles as they perform the five activities through vibrations acquired by accelerometers. The dataset contains corresponding time stamps and vibrations in three directions longitudinal, horizontal, and vertically stored in an Excel Macro-enabled Workbook (xlsm) format that can be used to train an AI model in a smartphone which has the potential to collect people’s vibration data and decide what movement is being conducted. Moreover, with more data received, the database can be updated and used to train the model with a larger dataset. The prevalence of the smartphone opens the door to crowdsensing, which leads to the pattern of people taking public transport being understood. Furthermore, the time consumed in each activity is available in the dataset. Therefore, with a better understanding of people using public transport, services and schedules can be planned perceptively. Full article

Force plates are commonly used in tank testing to measure loads acting on the foundation of a structure. These targeted measurements are overlaid by the hydrostatic and dynamic pressure acting on the force plate induced by the waves and currents. This paper presents a dataset of bottom force measurement with a six degree-of-freedom force plate (AMTI OR6-7 1000, surface area 0.464 m × 0.508 m) combined with synchronised measurements of surface elevation and current velocity. The data cover wave frequencies between 0.2 to 0.7 Hz and wave directions between 0${}^{\circ }$ and 180${}^{\circ }$. These variations are provided for current speeds of 0 and 0.2 m/s and a variation of the current in the absence of waves covering 0 to 0.45 m/s. The dataset can be utilised as a validation dataset for models predicting bottom pressure based on free surface elevation. Additionally, the dataset provides the wave- and current-induced load acting on the specific load cell at a fixed water depth of 2 m, which can subsequently be removed to obtain the often-desired measurement of structural loads. Full article

Image forgery has grown in popularity due to easy access to abundant image editing software. These forged images are so devious that it is impossible to predict with the naked eye. Such images are used to spread misleading information in society with the help of various social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. Hence, there is an urgent need for effective forgery detection techniques. In order to validate the credibility of these techniques, publically available and more credible standard datasets are required. A few datasets are available for image splicing, such as Columbia, Carvalho, and CASIA V1.0. However, these datasets are employed for the detection of image splicing. There are also a few custom datasets available such as Modified CASIA, AbhAS, which are also employed for the detection of image splicing forgeries. A study of existing datasets used for the detection of image splicing reveals that they are limited to only image splicing and do not contain multiple spliced images. This research work presents a Multiple Image Splicing Dataset, which consists of a total of 300 multiple spliced images. We are the pioneer in developing the first publicly available Multiple Image Splicing Dataset containing high-quality, annotated, realistic multiple spliced images. In addition, we are providing a ground truth mask for these images. This dataset will open up opportunities for researchers working in this significant area. Full article

Continuous water level records are required to detect long-term trends and analyse the climatological mechanisms responsible for extreme events. This paper compiles nine ocean water level records from gauges located along the New South Wales (NSW) coast of Australia. These gauges represent the longest and most complete records of hourly—and in five cases 15-min—water level data for this region. The datasets were adjusted to the vertical Australian Height Datum (AHD) and had the rainfall-related peaks removed from the records. The Unified Tidal Analysis and Prediction (Utide) model was subsequently used to predict tides for datasets with at least 25 years of records to obtain the associated tidal residuals. Finally, we provide a series of examples of how this dataset can be used to analyse trends in tidal anomalies as well as extreme events and their causal processes. Full article